Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a thin film transistor array panel and a manufacturing method thereof.
Description of the Background
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are one of the most widely used flat panel displays. A LCD has two display panels on which field generating electrodes such as pixel electrodes and common electrodes are formed, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the panels. Voltages are applied to the field generating electrodes to generate an electric field in the liquid crystal layer. Alignment of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer is determined by the electric field. Accordingly, polarization of incident light is controlled to display an image in the LCD. The pixel electrodes and the common electrodes that generate the electric field in the liquid crystal layer may be formed on a thin film transistor array panel.
Also in the LCD, a pad portion may be formed to connect a driving circuit to the field generating electrodes of the LCD to apply a gate voltage and a data voltage. If the thickness of a passivation layer in the LCD is problematically large, a height of a contact hole exposing the pad portion may be large such that a connecting member connecting the driving circuit and pad portion may be disconnected.
The connecting member may be formed on the pad portion exposed by the contact hole. In some cases, a bump may also be disposed between the connecting member and the driving circuit to transmit the driving signal to the pad portion from the driving circuit. If a height of the contact hole is increased, it is difficult for the bump to contact the connecting member and the driving circuit in the contact hole. Accordingly, the driving signal may not be transmitted properly.
Also, as the resolution of the LCD is increased, an interval between the pad portions becomes narrower such that the interval between the connecting members formed on the contact hole also becomes narrow. Accordingly, when an error is partially generated in an exposure process used to form the connecting member, adjacent connecting members may be connected such that a driving signal of a desired size may not be transmitted to the pad.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.